Emily de Molly Regal Beginnings Revisited

Emily de Molly Regal Beginnings is one of my most treasured polishes. See my previous post HERE for a review. Today's post is to show the photos that I preferred, but were stuck in my new-to-me camera (I needed to buy a card reader to make my computer load them) at the time. 
*I purchased this polish with my own money. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by Emily de Molly.*

*I purchased this polish with my own money. I am not affiliated with nor compensated by Emily de Molly.*

Review and Photos--Emily de Molly Regal Beginnings

I'm sad that I haven't posted in a little while; I've been trying to figure out my new-to-me camera, but it hasn't worked yet. So, back to the old camera for now...
This polish was on my most wanted list for a year at least. Every time I saw it online, I practically drooled. It was unavailable in the U.S. for a while. I ended up buying it from a blog sale, but it is available in the U.S. through shop.llarowe.com now. This beauty is 'Regal Beginnings', made by the company Emily de Molly, from Australia. 
*I purchased Emily de Molly Regal Beginnings with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the companies or brands mentioned in this post.*

Artificial light: Five coats 'Regal Beginnings', 2 coats Seche Vite

I agree with Emily de Molly's notes on this polish, from their Etsy listing (source):

"BASE - Medium purple jelly/creme.
GLITTER - Gold, blue and black.
Please be aware the larger gold glitter may get a reflective curl over time, but will apply easily and remain flat on the nail.

OPAQUE - in 2-3 coats depending on application."

The first time I wore 'Regal Beginnings', I applied just two coats and then topped with one coat of Seche Vite. I did not do my usual cleanup around the edges or use cuticle oil. I did not see any visible nail line after two coats, so there was good and even coverage. There were a couple of slightly curled glitters that were smoothed out when I applied my top coat. (Cilucia has a good explanation of 'reflective curling' glitter on her blog, if you're curious: http://cilucia.blogspot.com/2012/12/quickie-post-on-reflective-curling.html.) On Emily de Molly's Facebook page, the owner said that 'Regal Beginnings' wasn't available for a time while they worked out a glitter issue; I have no idea if the bottle I bought is older or newer, so you may have no curling whatsoever.

Natural light: Two coats 'Regal Beginnings', one coat Seche Vite

It was very easy to apply, I did not have to fish around for glitter, and I did not have to dab on to distribute the glitter. I love that the tinted base is opaque enough to build up to good coverage, but sheer enough to let the glitter show its true colors. I enjoy the overall combination of shapes and colors of glitter in this polish, but my favorites are the blue squares. Yes, there is still love for the classic hexagon glitter, but circles and squares are feeling more special to me at the moment. (I wish the polishes with star glitter would use smaller stars...maybe then they would lie flat on my nails.)

Artificial light: Five coats 'Regal Beginnings', 2 coats Seche Vite

I still wanted more opacity, since I'm a little compulsive about that. My nails were a little longer than they are now, so I preferred not to see through the polish when held up to a light. How silly of me, since it's not like I hold my nails up to a light in the natural course of my daily life. But, it is something I do in the unnatural course of my compulsive thoughts. Thus, I added three more thin coats of 'Regal Beginnings' on another day. 

Artificial light: Five coats 'Regal Beginnings', 2 coats Seche Vite

This time around I topped it with two coats of Seche Vite to calm down a couple disobedient glitter pieces. I received several compliments from strangers when I wore 'Regal Beginnings', and everyone asked me if I added the glitter to my nail polish or if it was in there already. 

Artificial light: Five coats 'Regal Beginnings', 2 coats Seche Vite

I actually took lots of photos of 'Regal Beginnings' outdoors in the sun, but they are currently trapped on the new-to-me camera while I wait for my husband to have time to figure out my failed attempt at using the software compatibility between the camera and my computer...or something like that. Sigh. Same for the pretty bottle shots. Emily de Molly bottles look simple and classy to me.

Bright artificial light: Five coats 'Regal Beginnings', 2 coats Seche Vite

I hope that you enjoy looking at my current favorite nail polish. As far as indie polishes go, I am partial to the creamy tinted bases with glitter.

Bright artificial light: Five coats 'Regal Beginnings', 2 coats Seche Vite

I would love to try other polishes from the Emily de Molly line to see if I love those, too. At the moment, I am especially eager to get my hands on (ha, or to get them on my hands!) these shades I've seen online: A Certain Shade of Green, Cosmic Forces, Harmony, Majestic Flight, Sakura, Studded Jeans, Split Personality, and Pyrite. Um, yes, I admit that is only my short list. 

Artificial light: Five coats 'Regal Beginnings', 2 coats Seche Vite

What do you think? Are you longing for any Emily de Molly polishes?

Closeup: Five coats 'Regal Beginnings', 2 coats Seche Vite

Purchasing information:
"Emily de Molly is currently only shipping within Australia. 
Emily de Molly is available from the following stockists with more to be added soon.
http://www.shoppe-eclectic.co/collections/indie-polishes/Emily-de-Molly
http://shop.llarowe.com/collections/emily-de-molly
http://www.norwaynails.com/"--(Source)

Prices vary depending on the stockist, but shop.llarowe.com usually has Emily de Molly polishes for $13.00. They sell out fast, but you can easily request them to send you an e-mail when they restock. 

*I purchased Emily de Molly Regal Beginnings with my own money and I am not affiliated with nor compensated by any of the companies or brands mentioned in this post.*

Review and Photos--Orly Fowl Play

Orly recently changed the style of their nail lacquer bottles. Most stores don't seem to care yet, but my local Sally Beauty apparently wanted to get rid of as many of their old-style Orly bottles as possible. So, a short while back, I was able to choose one Orly polish for free with my $10 purchase.

Indoors with flash

Being as my nail polish collection is a little ridiculous, it becomes more difficult to find shades that are unique to me. I let someone else go ahead of me in line while I dug through the basket of older Orly bottles.

Outdoors in sunlight

I couldn't remember exactly what it looked like on the nail, but the shade name 'Fowl Play' rang a bell as one that I had seen quite a bit online. I am glad that I chose this polish.

Outdoors in direct sunlight

It took the brightest sun available that day to capture it, but the above photo is the most color accurate, at least on my screen. 

Outdoors in the shade

The base color is a deep, warm purple. It has been described as a jelly, but I didn't notice that. The flakies flash between red, orange, gold, and green, but I have mostly seen the reddish orange. There also seems to be a blue microglitter in there.

Outdoors with indirect sunlight

'Fowl Play' was originally part of Orly's Birds of a Feather collection a couple of years ago, but it is in their permanent line now.

Indoors in artificial light

I used a Sally Hansen base coat, followed by two easy coats of 'Fowl Play'. The opacity was great.

Indoors with flash

I was happy with the formula. It applied easily and all of the flakies remained flat. I used Julep Freedom Polymer Top Coat to finish. I've had no chipping, no dings, and minor tip wear.

Outdoors with indirect sunlight

Orly polishes can be purchased at Sally Beauty and ULTA, and also at various beauty supply stores. I have seen a limited selection at CVS. Orly's web site shows a retail price of $8.50.

*I received the above product in-store as a gift with purchase. I am not affiliated with any of the brands mentioned above and have not been compensated for this post.*

Review and Swatches--Orly Rococo A-Go-Go

There was one bottle left of Orly Rococo A-Go-Go at T.J. Maxx, and it was only $3.99...so of course, now it is mine. 

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in natural light

Rococo A-Go-Go is part of Orly's Mineral FX collection of duo-chrome polishes. It's a beautiful, dark purple with duo-chrome flashes of gold and fuchsia. The duo-chrome is very apparent in the bottle, as below, but at first seemed to hide when on the nail, as above.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go bottle in direct sunlight

(I'm sorry for the adhesive left over on the bottle; it's from the sale sticker. I forgot to clean it off with rubbing alcohol.)

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in partial sun, closeup

This polish did not fail, however. The gold and fuchsia definitely came out to play, but they were choosy about which light they preferred.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in artificial yellow light

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in artificial yellow light, closeup

You could easily achieve sufficient coverage in two coats, but I chose to use three coats so that it would be opaque even when held up to the light.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in artificial yellow light, closeup thumb

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in partial sun

Application was very smooth. I had to be a little bit careful so that the polish would not flood my cuticles, but nothing crazy.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in the shade with bottle

I topped it off with Butter London Hardwear P.D. Quick Top Coat. I have been wearing Rococo A-Go-Go for a few days now with zero chips and minimal tip wear. I did polish my nail tips to cut down on tip wear.

Orly Rococo A-Go-Go in direct sunlight with bottle

Overall, I love this polish. It is shimmery and rich, and it looks as if it is constantly changing. I wish that the gold showed up more, but it is not a big detraction. Orly's website shows the retail price of their full-size polishes as $8.50.

What do you think? Do you have a favorite duo-chrome polish? I would definitely like to try more of them.

OPI Liquid Sand 'Can't Let Go'

For January, I ordered a Glossybox, another subscription service that sends you beauty samples for a fee. My favorite product in it was the nail polish, of course. The Liquid Sand line by OPI is one of many incarnations of textured polishes that are a big trend right now. 

Bottle shot in the shade

I am not the trendiest person, so you won't see every beauty fad on my blog. I wasn't a fan of the crackle nail polishes, or the caviar bead manicures, or the flocking manicures. The swatches that I have been seeing of the Liquid Sand have appealed to me, though, so now I have my own.

Shade

This particular shade is from a Mariah Carey collaboration with OPI, so it is named after one of her songs: 'Can't Let Go'. 

In the sun

The texture of the Liquid Sand polish to me is like extremely fine sand paper. It is gritty, but not chunky at all. It dried to the touch in a short amount of time, but remained a little squishy under the surface for a little while. OPI recommends that you not use top coat, so as to get the real effect of the Liquid Sand texture.

Closeup of the bottle

'Can't Let Go' is a lovely purple, leaning more blue or more red depending on the lighting. I found it to lean more blue overall. It contains large and small glitter, which I think plays nicely off the matte, gritty texture.

Full sun

I was very happy with 'Can't Let Go'. The only thing that I don't like about it is that the tiny pockets in the texture seem to collect any dust or makeup you may come in contact with; however, it washed off when I washed my hands. 

I also purchased the blue shade in the OPI Liquid Sand/Mariah Carey collection: 'Get Your Number'. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like it will be even more sparkly than 'Can't Let Go'.

  

Blurred to show the true sparkle

With flash

What do you think? Would you wear a textured nail polish?

*I am not affiliated with or compensated by any of the brands mentioned above.*

Play Date with Dots

One of my best friend's favorite nail polishes is Essie Play Date (their website shows it as one word, but my polish label shows it as two words). I finally got my own bottle when I had some Extra Bucks for CVS (their version of a rewards program). I find it to be a very unique shade in the purple family. It's like lavender if it were bright instead of soft and pale. Look at her beauty:

Essie Play Date in slightly overcast daylight

Essie describes Play Date as a 'flirtatious light purple'. The formula was smooth and easy. I did three thin coats, but you could get away with two.

I thought that Play Date would look great with some of the Color Club polishes that I bought recently. My dot gradient was inspired by Chalkboard Nails, especially this post: http://www.chalkboardnails.com/2012/10/blue-and-pink-gradient-dots-tutorial.html. (If you haven't already, check out her site; she's an amazing nail artist.)

I used the dotting tools in varying sizes that I bought in a Martha Stewart set from Michael's, the craft supply store.

The darkest purple is OPI Dutch Ya Just Love OPI? The periwinkle and rose dots are both Color Club, from their Spring 2012 Blossoming Collection. I bought these as part of a set at T.J. Maxx ($48 for seven polishes on Color Club's website; $9.99 at T.J. Maxx!). For some reason, they do not label the polishes with their shade names when they come in a set. But I am guessing based on online swatches that the periwinkle is Hydrangea Kiss and the rose is Sweet Pea.

I was very happy with how this turned out, especially for my first time with this style. I topped it off with Butter London Hardwear P.D. Quick Top Coat. (I didn't wait long enough before the top coat, apparently; some of the dots on the opposite hand smeared and it was sad.)

Thanks for looking, and thank you to Sarah from Chalkboard Nails for the inspiration!

*All products mentioned in this post were purchased by me with my own money, and I am not affiliated with or compensated by the brands.*